Westwood's Parochial Directory for the Counties of Fife and Kinross, 1862

PARISH OF KINGLASSIE.

This Parish is in the Kirkcaldy district of the County. It is bounded by the parishes of Auchterderran and Dysart on the south, by Markinch on the east, by Leslie on the north, and by Auchterderran, Ballingry, and Portmoak, in Kinrossshire, on the west. Its form is irregular, and varies considerably in different places, both as regards its length and breadth. On the north side it is five and a half miles from east to west, but on the south boundary it is less than two miles. At the west border the breadth is upwards of three miles from north to south, but towards the east it is not above two miles. The general surface presents alternately three ridges of varied heights and corresponding valleys, through which flow the Ore and the Lochty; while the Leven flows along the northern boundary. Adjacent to the streams the land is flat, and rises by various gradients to the top of the ridges, which are highest on the west, and are of a soft, though varied character. The external surface amounts to 7716 acres, all of which are in cultivation with the exception of about one-tenth, which is in wood and natural pasture. The soil is partly a deep clay, partly a light loam, and partly an intermixture of clay or loam, with sand and moss. The rocks are partly trap, and partly of the coal formation ; and coals are worked on the southern boundary.

The Parish is traversed by the roads from Kirkcaldy to Cupar, and by that from Dunfermline to Cupar. It has also ready access to railway accommodation, both on the north, the east, and the southern boundaries.

The only mansion-house is that of Inchdairnie, the property of Roger S. Aytoun, Esq. It is situated amidst pleasure grounds, to the east of the village of Kinglassie.

The Parish is chiefly a rural one, and its main dependence is on agriculture. There are woollen mills at Walkerton and Glenwood, on the northern boundary, where tweeds and blankets are manufactured, but these establishments scarcely affect the parish, as they are on the extreme border, and almost all the work people connected with them reside in Leslie. The small village of Kinglassie, containing about 420 inhabitants, is the only one in the Parish. It is situated on the Lochty, about two and a half miles south-west of Leslie, and six north north-west of Kirkcaldy. The inhabitants are chiefly agricultural labourers or village artizans. It contains the Parish Church and School-House, a Free Church, and a brewery. It has a Parochial and School library, an agricultural society, which meets annually and awards premiums for horses, cattle, &c., and a horticultural society, the members of which hold competitions in July and September, and award premiums for the best garden produce.

The POST OFFICES for the Parish are Kirkcaldy and Markinch, with the Sub-Offices at Leslie, Thornton, and Kinglassie, Miss Readdie, Sub-Post Mistress, Kinglassie. Letters from Kirkcaldy reach Kinglassie about 1 p.m., and are despatched about 11 a.m.

CARRIERS.Dall, James, from Kinglassie to Kirkcaldy, on Tuesday and FridayLaw, Helen, from Kinglassie to Kirkcaldy, on Tuesday and Friday (& Dealer in Dairy Produce)Pearson, David, from Kinglassie to Kirkcaldy, on Tuesday and Friday (& Dealer in Dairy Produce)